FRESH COMO MEAT: Porn & Groceries

Commodities are one of those things that most people just use in a cliched phrase. A “hot commodity” is usually attributed to the latest in an endless series useless bullshit that is about to sell out at your local widget seller or retailer. Don’t get me wrong, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t one to also get in on the latest/greatest techy things but, generally speaking, I prefer the used variety of “things”. Under capitalism, everything is commodified to sell on the open market. Everything is judged on its monetary value. If you’re one of those 99 percenters (which, judging by the “readership” here, I’m going to venture to say that you are!) then you’re probably selling your labor to someone in exchange for some kind of compensation that you use to sustain yourself. Usually that’s money. You are worth X amount to your employer. Its kind of disturbing to consider. From the most essential things needed to survive (Food, Clothing, Shelter) to the banal (how many toasters do we need?) to the most private (Sex, Sexuality). Speaking of porn, this city has an disproportionately high amount of porn shops. Sure, its close to many colleges but I’ve lived in college towns before and there is a ton here. Does anyone else find that weird? I mean, I’m not morally opposed to porn shops-the industry, commodification, and exploitation of sex workers, I am.

Back to the matter at hand: Everything can be used to make profit (see: stealing). Some see a beauty in being able to buy anything but I think its a product a really crummy world. Color me Danny Downer all you want, I embrace it with open arms or in the words of the famous dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson (no relation) “I AMMA MERCILESS REALIST AND ITS NOT DEFEATIST”. Maybe its just me, but destroying food so that food commodity prices stay profitable to agri-corporations while close to a billion go hungry is one of the greatest crimes in history.

While we all are being forced to buy commodities, and you can’t buy used food, I thought I’d put together a little list of place I like to get our supplies from here in COMO. There are your usual sort of big box chains that are convenient (Hy-Vee, Gerbes) and there are smaller chains (Schnucks, Patricia’s), I like to get the most bang for the buck, reasonably speaking of course. I’ve been hitting up Moser’s for things like staple items and it’s been pretty great and cheap. You’re not under the watchful eye of some security guard or have to rent a cart like Aldi’s. Moser’s has sweet all-plastic carts too that don’t feel like I’m pushing a sled when packed with The Dude and week’s worth of food. The produce is just as fresh as the others and I found that it’s about 20-30% cheaper than the bigger chains too. If you got some extra cheddar to throw down on some all-natural organic foods, there’s also some great things you can get from places like Clover’s, The amazing Peace Nook, and The Root Cellar. There’s also couple specialty stores like World Market, Chong’s Oriental Market and the new Campus Eastern Foods at 4th and Broadway (which has fresh organic lamb!). THE TEAM likes to mix it up between these depending on what’s on our weekly menu or if we’re hosting a bonanza at the CoMo Bungalow.

Of course when the season hits, you simply must get as much as you can from the Columbia Farmer’s Market. Now, with the wonders of indoor buildings and greenhouses, you can go every Saturday 9am to Noon at the Parkade Center, 601 W. Business Loop for the INDOOR Winter Farmers Market!